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The History of Art

From the outset, art has a lot to do with ideality, its historical origins lie in the religious realm, its original function is to mediate between the realm of man and the kingdom of the gods. This began in prehistoric shamanism, where dance, drum music and singing (besides drugs) served to bring the shamans into the world of spirits. The cave paintings, the first distinctive products of visual art, partly represented memories of the transendent experiences of the shamans. They wanted to show the rest of the group what they had experienced.

Also in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt art served as a medium to the beyond and the world of the gods. The visual art served either to depict religious figures and scenes or to glorify kings who were regarded as governors of gods or, in Egypt itself, as gods. The Mesopotamian poetry also dealt with either the world of gods or the relationship between man and the world of gods.

Homer exposes different ideals in his two works.

The Iliad is about Aidos (Respect), Eleos (Pity), Glory (Kleos) and Honor (Timé), criteria, but only for the aristocratic caste, not for the common people. Eleos and Aidos are important motives in the storyline around Achilles, who provokes the displeasure of the gods (Apollo and Zeus) after his killing of Hector, the murderer of Achilles´ darling, and the humiliating demonstration of his hatred of Hector by the treatment of his corpse.

The "Odyssey" is about the ideal of the "Endurer", embodied by Odysseus, who despite all suffering pursues his goal with wisdom and finesse. He is thus the prototype of the stoic sage as he envisioned the Romans Horace and Seneca.

The room for manoeuvre of the central Homeric figures (remarkably, only members of the aristocratic caste) is formed by the triangle of "divine will", "fate" (to which also gods are subjected) and "human freedom of will".

According to Homer, art began to separate itself from the purely religious reference and to form an alternative "secular" area, which was subordinate to the religious sphere for a long time.

The Greek tragedy initially served to worship the ecstasy god Dionysus and subsequently dealt with a multitude of mythical motives. 492 BCE, the poet Phrychinos was the first to perform a purely political spectacle (the conquest of Milets) and thus caused the first theatre scandal in history.

Later Greek art founded the ideal of beauty and harmony, the principles of post-medieval humanism, which brought man into focus and created aesthetic ideal forms of humanity, inspired by the encounter with ancient art (Renaissance).

With the bourgeois revolution in the 18th century CE, the secular art sector became completely independent and began to marginalize the religious art sector. The decisive step was taken by the French Realists around 1850 and the Impressionists around 1870.

But this does not mean that art no longer knew any ideals. Realism has a political-social ideal, while Impressionism has a life-aesthetic one. The Expressionism that quickly followed had the ideal of truthfulness in expression, combined with the ideal of an original, vital energy. The latter also applies to Futurism and - especially - to the abstract art of Kandinsky, whose images represent an attempt to visualize cosmic energy (which again touches upon the original sense of art, to convey the transcendent spiritual realm).

The literature of the 20th century also embodies many ideals of an aesthetic, moral and philosophical nature.

I have a question. Do anybody of you can suggest THE BEST History of art book?
I want to dive in this world but I can't find good book or video course for free
I've found review on The Collins Big Book of Art: From Cave Art to Pop Art but for me it is kind of a book for children
I am looking for more serious and deep educational book